GUANGZHOU — China opened a court on Dec 30 in one of its four free trade zones as it adapts its legal system to disputes arising out of these zones.

The court is located in the Nansha District of the Guangdong free trade zone and will hear civil and business cases arising out of the district. Previously all the cases from the FTZ district had to be brought to a local court.

China has established its first free trade zone in Shanghai in 2013 and announced three others earlier this year in northern Chinese coastal city Tianjin, Fujian province in the east and Guangdong province in the south. All the four zones allow foreign companies greater access to service sectors than elsewhere in the country. Capital flows between these zones and elsewhere in the world are also subject to less restriction.

The cases to be handled by the new FTZ court are related to investment, trade, finance, intellectual property right issues in the Nansha district of the Guangdong free trade zone.

“Given the increased number of companies, business activities and international trade in the FTZ district, the number of commercial disputes also rises inevitably,” said Wu Xiang, head of the FTA court in Nansha.

Wu added that legal disputes arising from the FTA has their unique circumstances compared to those coming from elsewhere in China and require expertise in related areas and professionals during proceedings.